Acute pain

Acute pain is the normal, predicted physiological response to a noxious chemical, thermal or mechanical stimulus and typically is associated with invasive procedures, trauma and disease.
It is generally time-limited, and resolves over days to weeks ... it can persist less than 3 to 6 months.

It results from activation of the pain receptors (nociceptors) at the site of tissue damage. This type of pain generally accompanies surgery, traumatic injury, tissue damage, and inflammatory processes. Acute pain plays the vital role of providing a warning signal that something is wrong and in need of further examination.
It can activate the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system and produce such responses as hypertension, tachycardia, diaphoresis, shallow respiration, restlessness, facial grimacing, guarding behavior, pallor, and pupil dilation.
Although pain in response to tissue damage is a normal phenomenon, it may be associated with significant, unnecessary physical, psychological, and emotional distress. Inadequately controlled acute pain can lead to clinical complications and be a factor in the development of chronic pain.

See reference for details.

Adapted from Medscape Drugs & Diseases. Acute pain: assessment and treatment. Available at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/735034. Accessed February 15, 2016. To view the entire article and all other content on the Medscape Drugs & Diseases site, a free, one-time registration is required.

Acute pain associations

Acute pain may be associated with cancer syndromes, with cancer therapy, with diagnostic intervention, with invasive therapeutic intervention, with infection, with bone metastases, and with tumor in internal organs.
All may be encountered in palliative care services. It is essential that the cause of each pain experienced by a patient is identified so that appropriate and specific treatment may be given.

Foley C. The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine. Third edition. London and New York. Oxford University Press. 2005. Pages 298-313.

Related terms

Initial development of Pallipedia was funded by a grant from the US Cancer Pain Relief Committee.​ Ongoing development and maintenance is funded by Fundación FEMEBA, Argentina.
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